European MEPs Force British Tabloid to Clarify Anti-Romani Statements

29 July 2004

On April 16, 2004, The Guardian reported that members of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (Labour MEPs) demanded that the Daily Express, a British tabloid newspaper, clarify stories it ran regarding a "Gypsy Invasion" of the UK following the May 1, 2004, accession of ten Central and Eastern European countries. Detailed information about the racist campaign of the Daily Express is available at: http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=1891. Labour MEPs ex-pressed outrage over the "obscene" coverage of the Daily Express. At the behest of the Labour MEPs, the Daily Express reportedly agreed to publish a clarification of a story it printed in March 2004, though it maintained it had not broken Press Complaints Commission rules. Labour MEP Mr Gary Titley stated that such hysterical media coverage "plays into the hands of the far right" and is "just not true". A number of Romani organisations, including the Brussels-based European Roma Information Office protested the racist campaign by the Daily Express. (The Guardian)